CES 53 took a massive hit on Thursday. At the official weigh-ins for the event, promotion officials announced a new main event. Unfortunately, Dinis Paiva withdrew from his headlining bantamweight title fight. In his place, Kody Nordby bumps up from the co-main event slot to take on Tony Gravely for the vacant CES bantamweight title.

Kody Nordby Replaces Dinis Paiva

Nordby was originally scheduled to face Zachary Burnhans before the chaos of Thursday. The fight was the break to a long layoff for Nordby. In his time away from the cage, he completed a tour of Iraq with the United States Army. The Sergeant last competed at CES 42 in March 2017. At the event, he defeated David Baxter. Nordby’s victory was his third consecutive.

New Title Challenger

Overall, Nordby holds a record of 9-4. Before his recent tour of duty, he was 4-1. This recent layoff isn’t the first extended time away from the cage for the Army veteran. His pace of fighting was nearly always fast. In the stretch of 2013-2015, Nordby fought 7 times.

Gravely set a similar pace to his professional career. The bantamweight title challenger turned pro in 2015. Since then, he accumulated 20 fights, while earning a record of 15-5. During his career, the Virginia fighter routinely took challenging opponents. He faced the likes of Ricky Bandejas, Merab Dvalishvili, Manny Bermudez, and Patrick Mix, among others.

Gravely makes his promotional debut at CES 53. The Virginia resident competed for many respectable organizations before making the trip to Rhode Island. Promotions such as Cage Fury, Cage Titans, King of the Cage, and LFA.

CES 53

CES 53 takes place Friday, November 2nd at Twin River Resort and Casino. On the preliminary card, Fabio Cherant takes on Ron Marshall for the second, and John Gotti III faces Josh Zuckerman. The night’s main card is broadcast on AXS TV. Fighters featured on the televised portion of the event include Richie Santiago vs. Billy Giovanella, Dylan Lockard vs. Anthony Wright, and Kris Moutinho vs. James Quigg.